At first, it’s a very impactful image in terms of its design elements. It feels very now, and current and uses a simple white background and a single focal point to simplify its ideas and intent. The focal point is the fruit in the glass and its quite interesting in its use of space; the fruit seems squished in, yet balancing on top of each other precariously with the glass framing them, encapsulating the objects. The colour is especially interesting to me and the reason I chose this text, I think the colour of the passionfruit and the peach is great and is a selling point in itself to see such vibrant, fresh flavours; it’s enticing. It’s quite emotive of summer, and feels fun. Then in the right hand corner there’s some subtle branding. This continues the simplicity of the image, in that there’s only one sentence and a simple image that eloquently conveys the brand, Smirnoff. The type is in the brand’s iconic red, and says simply “WE SEE #PUREPOTENTIAL”. This says a lot about what the image is suggesting, it’s simple and yet it speaks of something more, something to come, something to be enjoyed.

The ad is apart of a large campaign designed by Special Group, a New Zealand based design and marketing agency, and is part of this series that takes fresh, raw ingredients and positions them inside and around cups and suggests ‘potential’:

Brown, Ross. Smirnoff #Purepotential. Special group.co.nz. 17/03/2016

Brown, Ross. Smirnoff #Purepotential. Special group.co.nz. 2016

Brown, Ross. Smirnoff #Purepotential. Special group.co.nz. 17/03/2016

They all make use of vibrant colour and simplicity, and I think are very effective. On their website, Special Group has a blurb about the campaign that gives a lot of background context to the ideas. They say, “Smirnoff is the world’s biggest selling Vodka brand, but it needs to maintain its relevance to the younger drinker. We were tasked with creating a campaign platform that positioned Smirnoff as the catalyst for amazing social times.” I think this really speaks to a younger generation, with more contemporary design feel, and the use of an Instagram campaign to go along with the billboards, and create an interactive experience.

Like the billboards, the packaging of fruit and vegetables is an advertisement. The format and design of the packaging is based around the target audience and the idea the brand wants to convey. Unlike billboards, though, the advertising on fruit and vegetables is more informative and works upon the idea that the audience is already at the supermarket, and so the advertising informs rather than suggests.

Paw Paw and Rock Melon. New World Metro, Willis St. 2016

Saver Label. New World Metro, Willis St. 2016

Fruit and vegetable packaging employs standard fonts and simple, informative labels. As people walk around the aisles, the fruit and vegetables are displayed and a lot of the time, the fruit speaks for itself; like the appeal of the green Melon or vibrant Paw Paw. The supermarket itself revolves around the objects within it, and these are the centre of attention. Often there are labels like the “SAVER” label, which draw attention to specials, and use contrast and bold type to draw attention.

The supermarket works essentially as a vessel for these products and I think it’s important to note that the institution is called ‘New World Metro’ and is positioned in a very busy spot on Willis St. People are often moving through here in their lunch break or on the way to somewhere and so the layout and atmosphere of the supermarket also effect the way the products are labelled. The fruit and vegetable section is the first you walk through, and you must go through the fruit and vegetables to get anywhere. A lot of the advertising, such as the saver label, has to quickly draw people in, while still providing valid information. On the products, the price is the first thing you see, and this helps people make quicker decisions easily.

All Good Fair Trade Banana’s Brochure. New World Metro, Willis St. 2016

Some brands, when there is competition employ other tactics to sway the choices of the consumer, and again have a target audience. Pictured above is an All Good bananas brochure, which was the only one of its kinda we saw. It showed that more so than other fruit brands, All Good were trying to sell an idea; that they are “NZ’s Best Kids Food”. They are also advertising the symbol that their bananas are fair trade certified. It shows that All Good are trying to sell an image of virtuousness.

Our first task as a group was to scout out Billboards in Wellington’s city centre. As intended, they weren’t hard to find. Billboards are suppose to draw your eyes, and to convey a simple suggestion about a brand or a product, and we found that their ways of doing this were simple but effective. As seen in the ANZ Go Money and Steinlager Billboards:

ANZ GoMoney Ad, Manners St. 2016

Steinlager Billboard, Sharp Building, Taranaki St. 2016

“All artefacts are products of specific conditions,” (Clarke 25). When analysing these billboards, Clarke’s suggestion that all things are products of “specific conditions” can be applied; the Billboards are products of their placement, target audience and subject matter. I.e., the Steinlager ad is positioned on the Sharp Building on Taranaki St. It looks over a busy intersection, and from this we can assume that the main audience would be motorists, and therefore adults. It then makes sense that an alcohol advertisement would be placed here. We then can take those conditions and apply Clarke’s suggestion again in saying that because the ad is aimed at motorists, the use of wording is minimal, and instead the the ad captures attention with colour and form, and gets the point across quickly with the large brand name and matching brand colours.

Tui Ad. Taranaki St. 2016

A Tui Billboard we came across, also on Taranaki St, employed the use of narrative to suggest consuming its product. As is common in alcohol advertising, it suggests that drinking Tui is synonymous with being apart of New Zealand having a, “good life”, enjoying good company and generally having a great time. This narrative can be harmful in that it continues to promote an already terrible drinking culture in New Zealand. Often the target audience here, adults in the CBD, are on their way to work and wishing they weren’t, and this ad reminds them that this weekend they can be somewhere better, with the help of Tui. If I was to analyse this an image, I would also say that the use of blue in the background contrasts the golden colour of the lager, and draws attention to it. It also evokes feelings of being warm, and enjoying the summer period, a time New Zealanders love. It is effective in its placement, and use of visual elements.

I think it’s also interesting to note that out of 11 Billboards we saw around Wellington, half of those were for alcohol. I think it says a lot about our drinking problem, and just how susceptible to alcohol advertising we might be.